Ash felt like he'd gone deaf. Or maybe he was experiencing a brief case of hysteria. Ears ringing, disoriented, everything just kind of sounding like it did when you were underwater where everyone's voices were distorted and creepy. He just couldn't get past the word vampire, like the word had somehow made a record scratch in his own head.
Sure, it was fun to talk about mythological creatures on the podcast and also watch the occasional scary movie that featured them, but he didn't actually want his real life to mirror Willow's. At least, not anymore than it already did. We weren't going to talk about that whole magic blowing out the power in his whole neighborhood thing.
Was everyone seriously cool with this or was he crazy? Seeing and hearing Dillon's enthusiasm echoing Claire's, Ash realized with a sudden resignation that he was outnumbered. And, upon meeting the vampire at his door, realizing that he couldn't actually stop him from coming in if he wanted to. That was annoying. At least the vampires in Willow's world, rude as they were, had to wait for an invitation.
Looking between Claire and Raff, and also feeling a confusing desire to not disappoint Dillon, Ash resigned himself to his fate. Apparently he'd be spending Halloween with his two friends and a vampire. No big deal, right? He was just going to keep a very close eye on his own neck.
"You may have come up in conversation once or twice," Claire was admitting to Raff with an embarrassed smile and Ash stepped aside to make room for the vampire to walk in, carefully leaving enough space so that his neck wasn't even an option. "Sure, yeah, come on in. The more the merrier? I'm Ash."